Billy Joel tells Bill Maher he’s over what ‘woke’ people think of him

Legendary musician Billy Joel told Bill Maher he doesn’t care if the far left complains about his statements or music anymore.

During the latest episode of Maher’s “Club Random” podcast released Monday, the two discussed the “woke” left’s reaction to anything it disagrees with, with Joel admitting he is over being concerned about what that group thinks of him.

“At this point… I’m inured to it,” Joel said in reply to Maher asking if he doesn’t care if woke people criticize him any longer.

Maher brought up woke outrage while talking to Joel about his 1976 song, “Angry Young Man.”

In the song, Joel sings, “I believe I’ve passed the age, of consciousness and righteous rage, I found that just surviving was a noble fight. I once believed in causes too, I had my pointless point of view, and life went on no matter who was wrong or right.”

With help from Joel, Maher recited the lyrics and commented, “I feel like that is the message of the age, even though some people will hear that and say, ‘Look at these two a——-!’” 

“Boomers,” Joel chimed in, mocking an insult often lobbed online at older generations. 

The host continued, noting how mad leftists get when people don’t declare, “’Trump’s the worst.’”

The HBO host then brought up Joel’s Vietnam War-era song, “Goodnight Saigon” and its lyrics, “And who was wrong? And who was right? It didn’t matter in the thick of the fight.”

“Do you still feel that way?” he asked the singer, regarding the lyrics. 

“Yes,” he replied.

“And you don’t care what they say about you – the woke?” Maher asked.

“At this point, no,” the musician replied, though he noted how he tries to understand the point of view of people who disagree with him. 

“On the other hand, I’m always trying to find out the other point of view. What’s, you know, not my point of view – somebody else’s point of view. Okay, I’d like to understand why they think that way.”

“It’s so difficult in this day and age,” Maher replied.

Maher continued, “I mean it is what I am always trying to do on my show. It is, look, this is one safe space for everybody and I will take the heat from either – both sides. I mean I do feel like the left, who, ironically I’m more actually aligned with, is more snippy about it, and has a worse attitude about it, and makes me viscerally not like them more sometimes.”

Elsewhere, the two discussed how social media makes political outrage worse. 

“People say things all the time on [social media] they would never say, if they had to say it to your face,” Maher said.

“It just always surprises me how people, they express this hatred,” Joel responded. “It’s like, you hate a musician because he wrote something?”